Handrail and shelf construction for stepladders



Oct. 21, 1952 M. HEDGLON 2,614,744

HANDRAIL AND SHELF CONSTRUCTION FOR STEPLADDERS Filed March 28, 1950 M @4 6 INVENTOR.

amm W ATTORNEYS v step, as by screws 8.

, Patented Oct. 21, 1952 n SHELF ooNs'rRUo ri r FoR rEPLApp ns Mead Hedglon, Syracuse, N. Y.

Application March 28, 1950, Serial No. 152,389

2 Claims.

1 This invention has for its object a hand rail and shelf construction for stepladders and the means by which said construction is applied to old stepladders, or to new ones during the manu- Figure 1 is a front elevation of the stepladder.

Figure 2 is a side elevation.

Figure 3 is a plan view.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary enlarged elevation of parts seen in the upper end of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary plan of parts seen in Figure 2. V

Figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary elevation, partly insection, of parts seen in Figure 4.

The ladder may be of any conventional construction, that here shown being of the folding type in which the rear legs I are hinged at! to the top step 3 carried by the front or step supporting legs 4 against which the rear legs fold when the ladder is collapsed.

5 designates the hand rails which are usually tubular and supported in upright parallelism in front of the edges of the front legs 4 by braces or brackets carried by the ladder structure and extending in front of the front step carrying legs thereof. One bracket 6 for each rail 5 is located between the upper and lower ends of the adjacent leg 4 and projects forward therefrom, and is provided with a guide I in which the coacting rail slides. The other bracket 8 is secured to the under side of the overhanging ends of the top The brackets 8 extend in front of the front legs 4 and are provided with guide holes H for the rails. Locking bolts l2 are provided on the brackets or braces 8 for entering pairs of holes at different heights along the rails 5 for holding the rails at different elevations. The rails are formed with angular rearwardly extending horizontal arms l3 at their upper ends having inwardly extending end portions M, the ends of which are opposed to eachother. I'he ends are coupled together by a telescoping joint, as a plug I5 fitted into the opposin ends. The plug may be adjustable lengthwise, or axially, or may be made of different lengths to maintain the rails in parallelism, or in alinement with the rail guide holes in the bracket 6.

I6 is a shelf for work material, tools, etc. This is'shown as hinged to the inward extending end portions of the rails by brackets or hinge leaves I! at the rear end of the shelf so that the shelf can hang downward when'the ladder is folded, as seen in Figure 2, and be swung upwardly and over into a position between the upper ends of the rails or the arms 13 thereof, when the ladder is unfolded, or set up, Figure 4. The shelf is provided at its front end with laterally extendin lugs I8 for overlapping the rails 5, and these lugs are provided with dowels l9, Figure 6, for entering slots 20 in the rails to support the front end of the shelf from the rails in horizontal position. I

This hand rail construction can be quickly applied to ladders of different widths and different tapers of the front legs of the ladder, and the rails readily adjusted to different heights, and also the shelf easily manipulated from its pendant position to its operative or horizontal position. The rails also serve as braces to lean against when working or standing on the ladder.

What I claim is:

1. A hand rail and leg brace attachment for stepladders, the attachment comprising a pair of upright parallel rails, supporting brackets therefor securable to the stepladder structure ex-- tending in front of the step carrying legs of the structure and having guide openings through which the rails extend, locks for securing the rails. to at least some of the brackets and coacting with the rails to support the rails at different elevations, each of the rails having a rearward extending angular arm at its upper end, the arms of the two rails having inwardly extending angular portions located with their ends opposed to each other, and a coupling connecting said opposing ends to hold the rails spaced apart and parallel in accordance with the Width of the step supporting legs.

2. A hand rail and leg brace attachment for stepladders, the attachment comprising a pair of upright parallel rails, supporting brackets therefor securable to the stepladder structure and extending in front of the step supporting legs of the ladder structure and having guide openings through which the rails extend, locks for securing the rails to some of the brackets and coacting lar portions located with their ends opposed to each other, and a coupling connecting said opposing ends to hold the rails spaced apart and 3 parallel in accordance with the width of the step supporting legs, and. a shelf having means for pivotally mounting it on said inwardly extending portions whereby the shelf is shiftable from a pendant position upward and over between the upper ends of the rails, and lock means between the rails and. the shelf to hold the shelf in horizontal position.

lVIEAD I-I'EDGLON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Number Number UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Oertle July 7, 1942 Fenner Aug. 7, 1945 Wilson 1 Nov. 13, 1945 Boggs et a1. May 9, 1950 Biegen Nov. 27, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS "Country Date France Nov. 24, 1931 France May 8, 1944 v 

